Happy birthday, Nelson Mandela! (July 18, 1918)
One of the most famous freedom fighters in the history of Africa, Nelson Mandela was born into a prominent Xhosa family in Mvezo, South Africa. He studied law and worked as a lawyer in Johannesburg before involving himself in the struggle against apartheid, the system of racial segregation imposed by South Africa's ruling white minority. He joined the African National Congress, which he would later go on to lead, as well as the South African Communist Party, having come to embrace socialism and Pan-Africanism. He was originally committed to nonviolent protest, but ultimately founded the uMkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation" in Xhosa), the ANC's paramilitary wing, and led them in violent resistance to the apartheid government. Mandela was captured and imprisoned for 27 years, becoming an internationally-recognized political prisoner and representative of the anti-apartheid struggle before his release in 1990. Mandela was instrumental in negotiating the end of apartheid, and in South Africa's first multiracial elections, was elected President. He served from 1994 to 1999, overseeing a reckoning with apartheid's legacy, as well as introducing moderate social reforms, though never pursuing particularly radical policies. After leaving office, Mandela remained an elder statesman and an international figure until his death in 2013.
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for. But, my lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
